Cortez set a typing world record of 225 words per minute without a single mistake (an average of 18.75 keystrokes per second). His top recorded finger speed was 297 words per minute. Peters, along with his father, who was the world speed typing champion before him, developed special competition keyboarding methods and techniques that became the foundation of modern typing instruction worldwide.
Peters was a Washington D.C. native and resident. As a 15-year-old student at Cardozo High School, he became the greater Washington D.C. metropolitan high school level typing champion. At that age, he could flawlessly type between 130 and 140 words per minute on a manual typewriter. After his graduation from Cardozo, he studied business administration at Howard University.
His father, Cortez Peters, Sr., opened the Cortez Peters business schools in Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Chicago after his son set a record of typing more than 99 words per minute, without a single mistake, in competition while wearing fingerless mittens. Peters Sr. had earlier demonstrated that same feat on Ripley's Believe It Or Not while outdoors in subfreezing temperatures. One time during a lecture to business educators, Peters demonstrated his ability to type 180 words per minute - while continuing to lecture.
The Cortez Peters business schools were the first black-owned schools in the field, and during their tenure trained approximately 45,000 students. Also see the grave of Cortez Peters Sr. Both Peters Sr. and Peters Jr. made a career out of teaching their craft to others.
He married his wife, Mildred Smith, circa 1948.
Following the schools' closure in the mid-1970s, Peters Jr. began writing textbooks and became a consultant for commercial education programs. He also served as a school administrator.
Peters died on June 24, 1993 from a heart attack in Columbia, Missouri, where he had been conducting a seminar on typing, shorthand, and other clerical skills. He was survived by his wife Mildred and a sister, Joanne King, both of Washington D.C.
Most typing students today know who Cortez Peters Jr. is. As they peck away at their classroom typewriters and computers they type passages written by Peters that inspire one to perfection, one to understanding themself, and to understanding others. And all while doing so, such passages diagnose and exploit the various strengths and weaknesses of individual fingers and keystrokes and help students diagnose and practice the areas that they need the most practice on.
Peters Jr. was the 2006 inductee into the Business Education National Hall of Fame at the University of Wisconsin in Whitewater in recognition of his formatting and typewriting instruction. In 1979 and 1991, Peters was honored by the city of Washington D.C. by naming a day after him.
Cortez set a typing world record of 225 words per minute without a single mistake (an average of 18.75 keystrokes per second). His top recorded finger speed was 297 words per minute. Peters, along with his father, who was the world speed typing champion before him, developed special competition keyboarding methods and techniques that became the foundation of modern typing instruction worldwide.
Peters was a Washington D.C. native and resident. As a 15-year-old student at Cardozo High School, he became the greater Washington D.C. metropolitan high school level typing champion. At that age, he could flawlessly type between 130 and 140 words per minute on a manual typewriter. After his graduation from Cardozo, he studied business administration at Howard University.
His father, Cortez Peters, Sr., opened the Cortez Peters business schools in Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Chicago after his son set a record of typing more than 99 words per minute, without a single mistake, in competition while wearing fingerless mittens. Peters Sr. had earlier demonstrated that same feat on Ripley's Believe It Or Not while outdoors in subfreezing temperatures. One time during a lecture to business educators, Peters demonstrated his ability to type 180 words per minute - while continuing to lecture.
The Cortez Peters business schools were the first black-owned schools in the field, and during their tenure trained approximately 45,000 students. Also see the grave of Cortez Peters Sr. Both Peters Sr. and Peters Jr. made a career out of teaching their craft to others.
He married his wife, Mildred Smith, circa 1948.
Following the schools' closure in the mid-1970s, Peters Jr. began writing textbooks and became a consultant for commercial education programs. He also served as a school administrator.
Peters died on June 24, 1993 from a heart attack in Columbia, Missouri, where he had been conducting a seminar on typing, shorthand, and other clerical skills. He was survived by his wife Mildred and a sister, Joanne King, both of Washington D.C.
Most typing students today know who Cortez Peters Jr. is. As they peck away at their classroom typewriters and computers they type passages written by Peters that inspire one to perfection, one to understanding themself, and to understanding others. And all while doing so, such passages diagnose and exploit the various strengths and weaknesses of individual fingers and keystrokes and help students diagnose and practice the areas that they need the most practice on.
Peters Jr. was the 2006 inductee into the Business Education National Hall of Fame at the University of Wisconsin in Whitewater in recognition of his formatting and typewriting instruction. In 1979 and 1991, Peters was honored by the city of Washington D.C. by naming a day after him.
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